Remember Me : Cody Simpson Love Story
by cerealkiller16
Summary: Dennison and Cody were inseperable until Cody's dream ripped them apart. Cody ascended to super stardom, while Dennison remained herself with her friends at her school. But then he starts dating her former best friend. What happens to them now?
1. Prologue

She seriously was doing this to me, and although I know she's my "best friend" and she would never intentionally do this to me, I had a feeling she went out with him to get back at me for stealing her boyfriend a couple of months ago. Although he cheated on her with me and I technically never came onto him, she still thought and called me a backstabber. But now, here I was, watching her schmooze (**yes, I made it a word...) **it up with her brand new boyfriend.

He left me a couple of years ago, to get his career started. He told me that he knew we were going to break-up sooner or later, so he ended it then. He told me that if I waited to break up with him, that it would be a huge thing and that he didn't want me to be a victim of that. When the real truth was that he was most likely breaking up with me because he didn't want to be tied down to one girl when he could get hundreds of thousands where he was going. And one of those girls was Mackenzie. My "best friend". And Mackenzie was one of the only few people who knew that me and Cody had ever been together.

Yes, it's been two years. He had broken up with me on my birthday, back in April 2010. A month before he went to go sing with Flo Rida. He sang me a song, and then pulled me aside and said he wanted to speak privately. Of course, even though I knew it was going to end badly, I spoke to him anyway.

"_You know I care about you, right?" he asked._

"_Yeah. Just like I care about you," I said._

I knew that he didn't mean it. But I did.

"_Well, then, you have to understand that we have to end this little thing between us." he spoke gently. _

_And that's when my heart broke. He might as well called it a year-and-a-half long meaningless fling._

And just like any other girl going through a breakup, I had to ask why.

"_It's just that, well,"_

I bet that most of his fans don't know that he uses the word 'well' most of the time when he's nervous about something.

"_I mean, we both knew this was going to end sometime soon, right? You're so shy, and I'm not. You would never stand in front of a crowd of thousands of people, and that's my dream." He said, not taking his eyes from mine._

_I drew in a shaky breath. "Two months ago, you told me that you wanted to be an Olympic swimmer? And suddenly you changed dreams?" I said, accusingly._

"_Everyone changes their minds," he said, still maintaining that silky quality of his voice that I loved._

"_Yes, but you don't change life goals!" I said. "Mine hasn't changed for the past two years! How can yours change in two months?"_

"_Not everyone is dead-set on their future. And of course your view on the world hasn't changed. You're too _ordinary _to look outside the box, see what else your future could hold for you."_

"_How did I suddenly go from the most extraordinary girl you know, to being so ordinary that I can't understand how easily your life can change?"_

_He drew in a deep breath, obviously trying not to let his temper take the best of him._

Because when I knew him, that was his worst problem. You want to know why he didn't have many girlfriends in Australia? It was because of his hot, quick temper that sometimes was uncontrollable. But I knew how to tame it.

"_I didn't come here to fight with you because I know you'll never let me win. Just know that we're over, Dennison." He said before walking out of the closet. Before he walked out of my life._

That was in 2010. Now it's 2012 and the second anniversary of our breakup. The second anniversary happens to be on the day of my quincenera. Mackenzie is in my court, and sadly her boyfriend is going to be going with her as her date although I begged her not to bring him because he would draw the attention. But she eventually made me settle with him wearing a wig, contacts and trying to smush out his accent. No, she said that he didn't remember me, or at least that he acted like he didn't. But he was famous now.

His life is a movie and here are the roles. Him as the star that every girl is daydreaming about. Mackenzie's the pathetic leading lady who thinks she has a chance with him. And me, I'm the useless extra with no space in the movie.

I should be excited. My fifteenth birthday was tomorrow. The biggest party of my life was tomorrow. My family would be all together and the same room, where nobody's drunk, where nobody has even gotten within three thousand feet of any type of drug. Only one person ever knew how messed up some of my family was. And he left me.

But I wasn't ready for the party. Instead, I was up at four-thirty in the morning, on the day of ,y birthday, writing Hunger Games fan fiction (**A/N: Is fan fiction one words or two words?)** because my readers liked the concept of everything not being about Peeta and Katniss. Staring at the blinking cursor as I typed because I was unfocused. I bet he would be happy to know that my dream had changed the second he left me. I went from being an amazing photographer to being an aspiring writer.

The blinking typer thing didn't change. There was the same amount of time before it flashed, it was the same color all the time, and it had to chase the speed of the words no matter how fast I typed. It had to keep up with the times. Even now that I stare at it I feel its pain. Having no other options besides the one being put in front of you. I wanted to sleep. My eyes burned as I stared at the screen. Then the phone rang inside the office and I was snapped out my thoughts. Even the littlest things would scare me. And he would laugh at me, knowing that just his laugh could ease my worries. But he wasn't here. I jammed my earbuds into my ears and YouTube'd 'Angel'.

He used to be my best friend. Then my boyfriend. So, even though he may have chosen to ignore me, I've definitely have been trying to keep up with his life. I guess in a way I still liked him.. a lot.

_My angel,_

_How'd you get to be so fly?_

_How'd you get to shine so bright?_

_How'd you get to look like that?_

_Heaven, don't you call her back._

_Halo, halo,_

_I'm not sayin hi_

_Baby, there's a ring above your head._

No, it didn't make me cry. I cried all my tears over him during those couple of months that his career took off. I guess it was just hard to cope with. But it was okay. It was that experience that taught me how to channel my emotion in to my writing. He didn't remember me anymore. I honestly didn't know how that was possible. Wasn't it me who kept him from hurting the people around him when his temper became out of control? Wasn't I the one who made him learn to control it? Still, I listened to the 'Not Just You' song because I loved the bridge. Or that one part that's different from everything else in the song.

_I'm not giving up,_

_You don't have to leave_

_I am willing to beg til I break my knees._

_I believe in us,_

_Don't give up on me_

_Girl, I know that you're hurting_

_And I'm sorry for the pain,_

_I promise that I'll change…_

But I was cool with it now. It kind of helped that as I wrote, I had the windows positioned next to each other so I could watch the 'On My Mind' video a couple of thousands of times. Taking pauses from my writing to watch him sing. The part where he's on the mall video systems…the way he tucked his hands into his pockets. His bright blue eyes. _Pathetic alert. _I don't know, it's just something about him that makes me keep my faith in him.

I gulped down, and just focused my attention to my story. Time to kill off another Tribute in the story. Or maybe break the protagonist's heart. And who's playing the protagonist? Me.


	2. Happy Birthday

I woke up the next morning, my head twisted at a weird angle, on the living room floor with my mom's laptop open and the 'On My Mind' video up. My two-year old brother crawling on my head. I smiled. "Aaah!" I screamed. He screamed too, but I thought it was so cute how he screamed. I swear, I can't get _him_ off my mind. He didn't even know that Andres existed. My mom pulled me up off the floor, looking at me sympathetically. By now, you've probably guessed by the music who _he _is. Cody Simpson.

"Can you yell a bit louder? I'm not sure the people in Brazil can hear you yet." Alyssa remarked. Alyssa's my annoying thirteen year old sister. She couldn't go one day without saying something mean to me.

"Didn't they hear enough of you when you saw that bug yesterday?" I replied. "I don't want to annoy them anymore."

She rolled her eyes and stayed quiet for the next few seconds. Then she started fighting with Demi, my eleven-year old sister. Alyssa's not exactly the sweetest girl in the world. Or America. Or Texas. OR Corpus Christi. Or our neighborhood. Or this house. Or this room. Or on the couch she's sitting on, by herself.

My mom told me to go get changed so we could fix some last minute things for my quince. I obliged, choosing to wear a black tank top with white flowers, light blue jeans, and blue Converse. I called Mackenzie and asked her to go with me, because although she was stabbing me in the back by dating Cody, she truly did think she had a logical and sensible reason to do it. And she really liked him. We went by her house and picked her up. She came out texting on her phone non-stop. But that was normal. She was a text-a-holic.

My mom didn't like Mackenzie much anymore. And frankly, neither did I. I could hear 'All Day' playing in her pink headphones. I was listening to "Take Care" in my green ones. We went into the dress store, and my mom asked the lady to bring out my dress for me. She came out with the poofy green dress that I had liked. After that, my mom put the dress in the car and finished the preparation for my quincenera was done, and I couldn't wait. My heart pounded, for what reason, I didn't know.

"Calm down." Mia told me. She was really the only one who understood me, besides my mom.

"It's just that there are so many people out there,"

"But you're worrying about one that you will most likely not recognize out of the huge amount of people here. " she said, trying to be optimistic. When she knew that the reality was that I would know where he was because he would be the one I didn't recognize.

"Yeah, you're right. I totally won't." I lied, trying to convince myself. "I can do this."

"Good. GO!" she said, pushing me out of the bathroom, into the party. Right now, we were eating dinner, and I was sitting with my friends. But Mackenzie wasn't there. She was always late for everything. I sat down next to my best guy-friend, JZ. How would I describe him? He's got brown hair that is long around his face, but looks nothing like what Justin Bieber's used to. he looks like a younger version of Munro Chambers. He has this bad boy vibe around him that I enjoy.

"Now be honest. Do I look like a monkey in this suit?" he asked. I knew he wasn't used to be dressed up like this.

"Yeah. But I'll fix it." I smiled. I reached up and took a tie of a waiter, and took the bowtie off of J-Z. I tied the tie loosely around his neck, unbuttoned the top two buttons of his jacket. I put my hand on his chest. "There, now you don't look like another monkey. Now you look like a cool monkey." I said. He laughed.

"What did I miss?" Mackenzie's annoying voice rang out. I had just noticed she was there. How could I ignore her presence? How long had she been sitting there with her 'date'?

"Nothing, just giving him some style tips." I said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Trying to pretend I really had no idea who the black hair, green-eyed boy was, even though I saw a strand of blond hair behind his ear.

I felt his gaze holding me, and I looked for JZ's hand under the table. I quickly drew my hand back, realizing how poignant I was acting. Mackenzie was conversating with Mia, who was showing her clear distaste for Mackenzie. I twirled my brown hair around my finger, a nervous habit that I hace had since forever. That and biting my lip. I felt a soft pat on the back from JZ. I looked up at him and smiled, scooting my chair a little closer to his. So, then everyone realized that the unfamiliar black-haired, green-eyed boy who came with Mackenzie wasn't talking to anyone. JZ, being the most confident one of all of us tried to initiate a conversation.

"Hey, no offense or anything, but who are you?" he asked, so gently that all of us looked at him in disbelief. I guess to him, Cody wasn't a threat.

"My name is, is, is, I have a name. I have a name that's not Bob. My name is Liam." He said, unsure of himself.

"Well, Liam, I'm JZ. " he said hi voice regaining its powerful tone.

"I'm Mia,"

"It's Jake." Said Mia's boyfriend.

We were introducing ourselves by going around the table. Then it was my turn. No big deal…

"I'm Dennison," I said.

He nodded. "Happy birthday," he said.

"Thanks," I said, quickly avoiding his look. My eyes darted around the room, looking for potential things to stare at that wasn't Cody. I saw Brad and Angie. They were here? _of course they are. They're like, your mom's best friends. _Tom and Alli were over there too. Oh my gosh, Tom had gotten so big since the last time I saw him, three years ago. His hair had gotten darker. But he was still utra-adorable. I smiled when I remembered how when he was three, I used to play with him and his little toy trucks.

"Why are you randomly smiling?" Mackenzie asked.

"If she wants to smile at a wall, let her. It's _her_ birthday." Mia said.

"Yeah," I said childishly.

Then my mom told everyone that dinner was over, and the waiters around picked up the plates. Sadly it was the part I had been the most afraid of. The one on one dances in front of all the people in the room. I didn't want to dance with my father, so I danced with Brad (Cody's dad) because he was the closest thing to a father figure that I had.

And not to my surprise, he asked the same questions that any dad would ask while he danced with me. _How are you? How are your grades?_ (Except he said marks.)

"Any boyfriends I should worry about?" He asked about forty-five seconds before the song ended. I laughed.

"I wish there was, but sadly, no."

"Oh, really? Who had their arm around you while you were eating? "He said. "Very subtle, but easy to notice by such a keen person like myself."

I turned bright red. "Oh, he's just a friend." I said. Brad twirled me once more before the song ended. People applauded. I smiled. The last dance was between my escort and I. JZ came towards me.

'"Wanna dance?" He asked, very gentlemanly.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not at all," he grinned.

I took his hand and we danced. Halfway through the song he began to laugh.

"What is it? Am I that bad?" I asked.

"No,it's just that_ Liam_ keeps looking at you." He said.

"No, he's looking at Mackenzie who's on the other side of the room, trying to get a better view of your butt." I laughed.

He laughed. "I know. I just said that to calm you down. You feel all like tensed up."

THAT'S when I realized how we were holding each other. One of his arms was around my waist, the other holding my hand. My arm was around his shoulders and the other holding his hand. The way a boyfriend and a girlfriend would dance with each other.

**Author's Note:**

**Yeah, I already have the first five chapters of this story written out. The only reason I don't post them right away is because I'm trying to like, get myself on schedule. Unfortunately I'm extreme ADHD, so in class I'm trying to payt attention but I get ideas for my stories and write when I get home. So, I'm writing faster than I can post. **

**:) Review :)**

**ArieGreyPurple: THANK YOU SO MUCH! For looking at all my stories. Are you this nice to everybody? And, by the way, I L-O-V-E love your long reviews. :) So, seriously, thanks for checking out all my stories. :)**


	3. Dancing

THAT'S when I realized how we were holding each other. One of his arms was around my waist, the other holding my hand. My arm was around his shoulders and the other holding his hand. The way a boyfriend and a girlfriend would dance with each other.

I peeked over JZ's shoulder and saw Brad grinning at me like, _I told you so_.

I Felt my face go hot again.

_"Has anyone ever told you that you look adorable when you blush?" _I heard _his_ voice in my head. Then the song ended.

He began to let loose of my hand. "Don't let me go," I whispered under my breath to where only he heard. He gripped my hand again. I turned to all the people around me, avoiding those fake green contacts.

"Phew, finally that's over." I smiled. The people around me laughed. "Okay, but seriously its yall's turn. I'm done being the only one on the dance floor." They laughed and the DJ played 'The Motto' after telling everyone that he would be taking requests.

Everyone either ran to the DJ or stayed on the dance floor to talk. But I danced with my loud, crazy friends out there. Just one thing didn't fit with my grand scheme of things. I wanted to go crazy and these heels wouldn't let me. I could barely slow dance in them. I bent down, unlaced the strap and handed them to the nearest person and asked them to go put it at my table which was the only one with the neon green tablecloth. It was a waiter and I watched her as she set my shoes on the table.

By the time my shoes were on the table 'Here We Go Again' by Demi Lovato was playing. I sang along with my friends, meaning green-eyed Cody was with us, laughing. It was crazy. Then, I noticed Mackenzie grinning at me from the DJ's table.

Whatever. It's my party. I'm not gonna let her ruin it. I danced crazy to Masquerade by Ashely Tisdale too. I can honestly say that I really couldn't have been any more happy.

Then Mia and I's song came on. 'Turn Me On' by Nicki Minaj. "Touch me, save my life. Come on and turn me on," we sang. I laughed, screamed, screaming just for fun, trying to out-scream my friends. I ripped my dress a little bit on the bottom by stepping on it repeatedly. I was ripping my hair out of the bun that had been on my head. So I could twist my hair to "Don't Trust Me" (3OH!3)."Journey to the End of my Life" (Allstar Weekend), "Til I Forget About You" (Big Time Rush), and other fun, fast songs like those.

Mackenzie came down from the DJ's stage, smiling and making green-eyes dance with her. It was funny because when we were all dancing together, I didn't think about Cody. I even forgot a couple of times that green-eyes was Cody.

Then "All Day" began to play.

_"This young girl, she's so cute_

_Every time I see her I wear a fresh pair of shoes_

_Cuz this young girl she's such a killa"_

Mia looked at me expectantly. What the hell. "_You're like my favorite song on the radio, radio, radio, radio. I could listen to you all day._" I said dancing to the song crazier than any of the other ones. Doing two steps, dougies. "_So, you should be my boyfriend, all day_." I sang, seeing my friends around me laughing. To tease Cody, I was like, "Hey, you can be Cody Simpson for me, right Liam?" I asked, still pretending to buy into his whole 'Liam' façade.

He would nod (a little nervously) and laugh.

Then the song ended and I saw Angie yelling my name. I ran over to her. She hugged me tightly.

"Oh my God! You have gotten so pretty!" She yelled over the music.

"Sure I have, Angie." I said, laughing. "Hey Alli," I said. Then I thought of a way to annoy Cody. "Do yall wanna come dance with me and my friends?" I said. She nodded, and I held little Tom's hand and pulled them over to where my friends were dancing. Hey guys, these people are Alli, and little Tommy." I said, bending down to pinch Tom's cheeks. He swatted my hands away.

"No, I'm not a baby," he said.

I ruffled his hair. "Of course not." I smiled. Still, Tom hugged me.

I saw Cody glaring at Alli. This was pretty good. Then, "On My Mind" played. That was the one that always hit me at home. I guess it was because he couldn't get a girl he just met off his mind, but he could completely forget about someone he had known for close to six years. And dated for two.

But I didn't think about that and danced with Tom.

Most of the people had left by eleven-thirty. But the party didn't end until midnight. So we kept dancing. Even green-eyes stayed around until I couldn't take it anymore.

I tapped him on the shoulder. "Liam," I said, making him look at me. "Can I talk to you?"

He nodded, and he followed me into a supply closet. "Sorry, my dress takes up three fourths of the closet."

He laughed and nodded. That's when I noticed how a bunch of blond strands had fallen out of his wig from all the dancing he did.

"I know this is a stupid question, but it's been nagging at me for a while." I said.

"Shoot," he said. He was so tired that he was starting to regain the Australian accent he'd been hiding all night.

"Okay. Have we met before?" I asked, when the real question I had been meaning to ask was if he remembered me. But this one was just as important.

He chuckled. "I don't normally hang out with people like you," he said.

"What do you mean, _like me_?" I said, a hint of impatience in my voice.

"Nothing to make you mad or anything. Its just that,well, I just usually don't hang out with ...never mind. But to answer your question, no. I've never seen you before in my life." He said.

I just dug my nails into my palm and said ok. But as I was leaving, I whispered to him, "You might wanna fix your hair. It's a little blond behind your ear. I pushed the little strands up into his wig. "There. Now nobody knows that your hair is really blond," I said, wiping his sweat off my two fingers onto my dress and walked out of the door to go hang out with my friends. Spent the last fifteen minutes of my quinceñera dancing Cumbía with my friends. Not with _Liam._


	4. Double Date?

The next day I woke up, my day just as uneventful as any other day. I woke up, walked my little sister to school, dropped my little brother off at his daycare and then went to my school. It was different at my school. It was an advanced school, and the numbers of students in your class decreased as the grade increased. For example, our grade, ninth grade, the freshman had forty students. Our class size was usually ten to fifteen students. It's really small.

I walked into the cafeteria and took my place at our table in the lunchroom. We usually sat at the same table every day. I was usually one of the last people to get there because of all the stuff that I had to do in the morning. I sat between Mia and Mackenzie because I had to pull a chair from another table. We did what we did every morning. We completed the homework that was due that day because we didn't want to do it at home. We actually planned to procrastinate.

I pulled out my Geometry homework, and started asking Mia if she had gotten the same answers as she did. We checked them off one by one, and it turned out that we didn't have a bunch of answers that weren't the same and we weren't about to ask Mackenzie which one of us were right, because she was probably the dimmest person at the table. Really, she spent so much time with boys that she really didn't care about school, just if it was partner work and a really cute boy was assigned to be her partner. She's boy-crazy, and although she _thought _everybody liked her, everyone thought she was an annoying slut.

I asked Alma which answers she had shared with me and which answers she had shared with Mia, and she had mostly the same answers as I did and a couple with Mia. Mia was about to go off on a tangent about how I was good at math, I just never did the work or I dumbed myself down to make myself cooler when I stopped her and told her that I really wasn't good at Geometry, it was just that some things were easier than others, and this was one of them. And so would be the next. And the next. I was good at math, I just didn't like doing it.

I finished my chapter for Biology, and not even like fifteen minutes later, the bell rang for first period. I walked into the class with my textbook tucked into my arm and my journal crushing my chest. I sat down with Alma, JZ and Jake. I sat down and started to write about what made tomatoes ripen slower in a refrigerator than they would at room temperature. I noticed how Alma kept peeking over at what I was writing, but I knew she probably couldn't. I had this really slanted cursive that was nearly illegible, but really pretty if you took the time to read it.

"Alma, if you need help, just ask." I said. I was really good at science, which meant I was great at Biology.

She shook her head, seeming embarrassed. "No, it's ok." She said. She opened her book, found the chapter about that kind of stuff and tried to answer the question on her own, but when I looked over, her answer was wrong. She had been describing something else. I decided to focus on my own work, and at times glance into the book that I had lying on top of my planner out of boredom. It was called _The Invisible Man_ by Ralph Ellison. Yeah, JZ made fun of me this morning because of it.

I looked down at my highlighter-yellow Converse. I heard the teacher talking in front of the class, but this was all review. The test was in a couple of weeks. I rubbed the sides against each other. This class bored me a lot. It was too easy. She rolled her eraser around with her fingertips. _Had Cody really forgotten her? How could he? And if he did remember, why didn't he? Why did he choose to lie to her face if he had remembered? Was he really so having to be in the fast-lane he couldn't remember where he was from?_

I felt an elbow nudged into my left arm. "What?" I hissed at JZ. He subtly pointed to the front of the class where Ms. Torres was tapping her foot impatiently.

"Next time that I ask you a question, Miss Macias, I expect you to not only pay attention in class but answer the question as well." Ms Torres said. I rolled my eyes at the jerk.

"Yeah, okay." I said. Ms Torres glared at me for a couple of seconds before moving on with the rest of the lesson. _Yeah-hoo. Get a teacher pissed off at you in first period. I wonder how the rest of your _wonderful _day will go._

I went from Biology to Geometry, from Geometry to Journalism, from journalism to Human Geography, and from Human Geography to lunch. Which turned out to be just the dandiest best it could be. I walked alone because I'm the only one in my group of friends who was in that class with the Juniors. I was the first one to lunch, and put my stuff down at the table we almost always sit at. I grabbed my lunch after standing in line and sat down at the table, pushed the lunch aside. I didn't eat until her friends got there because it felt weird to eat alone. I had my bags on the table because if I put them on the floor, someone could take our table.

Someone slammed their bags on top of mine. I pushed his bags off the table. "Keep your crap off of mine, Josiah." I told him. He pulled out a chair and sat on it and I pulled my bags off the table.

"Whatever you say, Dennison."

"Yeah, whatever _I _say." I repeated.

JZ rolled his eyes (while smiling) and sat down. Eventually, everyone was sitting down, so I started eating. I held the book up in front of my face so the other five people that were sitting with me knew I wasn't listening to a word they say. I read on, it was a book we were reading for English, _To Kill a Mockingbird._

While I read the book, you don't know how many times I thought of the summers that I spent with the Simpson's when Dill would come over for the summer to visit Jem and Scout. I was the Dill in the situation. My family and I went to Australia each summer because my uncle had been a researcher in Australia. That's how my mom met Brad and Angie Simpson. Brad and Angie went to one of my uncle's scientific expos, and BAM. The Simpson's became a close family friend. They eventually became so close that spending the summers in Australia with them was a summer tradition. Gold Coast, Australia to be exact.

"DENNISON!" Mackenzie's ANNOYING voice yelled at me.

"WHAT?" I yelled right back. "Can't you see that I'm reading?"

"Can't you see that I don't care?" she retorted. I rolled my eyes. You have those kinds of friends, right? The friend that you can't stand, but hang out with anyway? "Now, is that a yes or a no?"

"To what?" I asked.

"Do you wanna go to dinner with me and my boyfriend? My mom won't let me go, and she said if it's a double date, she'll let me go, because their'll be four people compared to two." I looked at her weirdly. "You. Me. Bofriend. Dinner. Double date?" she said as if she were talking to a caveman.

"Sorry. Me no understand yet." I said primitively.

"Anyway," she said, glaring at me "Do you want to go?"

"I don't have anyone to go with." I said.

"JZ'll go with you. Simple as that." She said.

Mine and his eyes shot open at Mackenzie. "WHAT?"

"Yeah. It's obvious you two like each other anyway. Yall can try _yall_ out." She said. JZ and I still stared at her with open eyes. "Whatever. Yall two act like you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, but you're going on that double date with me, even if you have to go as," she put up fake quotation marks, "just friends." The bell for fifth period rang. "See you two tonight!" she said before walking away to her class. Jake, Mia, Alma, JZ and I stared at each other, all of us pretty much thinking the same thing. _What just happened?_

**ArieGreyPurple: I read your review on When In London! Sorry, I haven't been able to post as often cuz I have my Algebra EOC coming up. I've been cramming for it like crazy. But after Monday, I'm going to be updating more often. But you want to know why being my first reviewer on every story is great? You get a spot in all of my stories! And, maybe you'll get one all about you (PM me about it, I already have an idea starring you and Greyson Chance!). Now, the review on this one? I literally gagged at my own writing when I read that chapter over. But thanks for liking it? :) **

**Angelagirl13: Thanks! I honestly thought that not a lot of people reviewed because it wasn't interesting enough. But thanks! (Does this count as the update?)**


	5. Simple White Dress

Our English teacher was talking, but I wasn't focused on her. I was thinking about my 'double-date' tonight with Cody, Mackenzie and JZ. Lissa, one of the sweetest people on this earth (I SWEAR.) was listening intently and I was thinking. We were taking a English test in a couple of weeks, but I wasn't really worried about it. I had gotten a 92 on the benchmark, so I'm just like, whatever.

I wasn't as much worried as seeing Cody as Cody and not Liam, but I was worried about JZ and what he thought about this. _Did he like me? Did he know that I might like him? Heck, I don't even know if I like him like that. _I really didn't know, but I knew I .. ugh. Whatever. I'll handle this crud later.

A song started randomly playing in my head. It was a song by Greyson Chance, I had listened to it this morning with Alma. It was like, 'Heart of Stone'? _No, that's the Rolling Stones.._ Oh, it's 'Heart Like Stone'. I liked his music, a lot. I went to one of their concerts on the 'Waiting 4U' tour. I'm in love with Greyson Chance. Sue me, why don't you.

The day went by fast. It's like, if it's just school, then the day's going to go by slower than molasses. If you don't want the day to end, it ends like that. Like, snap. It's over.

I was walking out of Technology with Mackenzie when she brought up the whole double date thing. She told me, not asked or suggested to me, that I was going to go over to her house after school so she could help me get ready to go out with her and him, and _him_. See, that's why I'm friends with her. I swear, this girl's bipolar. But when she's not on the bad side of her personality spectrum, she's so, _like, nice._

Naturally, we went over to my house first to see if I 'had anything worth looking at'. It turns out that the only thing she liked that was in my closet was a pair of black leggings with a lace trim at the bottom. She said everything else in my closet was a little too casual for where we were going. And in response, all I did was shrug my shoulders and say ok.

We left and walked three blocks to her house, my leggings in my bag that was hanging at my side. About fifteen minutes later, we finally arrived at her house and went up to her room. Her pink walls were so bright, they literally hurt my eyes. I sat down on her purple bed while she was strutting up and down her closet. Her closet was the same size as a bathroom. It was pretty darn big. "Shouldn't you be worrying about what you're going to wear? He's your boyfriend, not mine." _Anymore.._

"I already picked out what I was going to wear tonight. I picked it out yesterday. Think, Dennison!" A couple of seconds later, she came out with a bright pink dress that would most likely fit her tight and some small pink wedges. "Plus, I'm just going to brush out my hair." She said, flipping her already completely straight hair. "So, all I have to worry about is making you look good."

"Why are you so dedicated to me looking good if this date is all about you?" I said, confused. I mean, if she really likes Cody, wouldn't she try to make me look terrible so she looks great, compared to me?

"Because, it's all about messing with a guy's mind. It's like, it's like..well, it's hard to explain, but trust me. If it goes my way, it's definitely going to work." She said, still looking for clothes in her closet. "I know what I want you to wear, it's just that there's so much in he—Oh, wait. Here it is!"

She pulled out a white, spaghetti strapped dress. It was long compared to the dress she picked out for herself, and if I wore it, it would stop just a little above my knees. The top of it was like a dress that would a person would wear over a bathing suit, but it was a thinner fabric. The skirt of the dress was really pretty. It was layered, was so pretty. It was so pretty I thought it wouldn't look any good on me. "Oh my gosh. That's actually really pretty."

Mackenzie shrugged her skinny shoulders and smiled. "I know! I got it on sale at Target."

It was quiet for a minute.

"Well, go try it on!"

I went across the hall and changed in the bathroom. I went back into Mackenzie's room and looked at myself in the ceiling to floor mirror she had on her closet door. I looked…_good. _It was so weird.

Then Mackenzie decided to do my hair. She curled it lightly though I begged her not to. I had raked a brush through my hair to try to dull the curls, but they didn't come out, so I just decided to leave it alone. I refused to look in the mirror though. I was wearing only one bracelet compared to the hundreds (exaggeration) of bracelets I usually wear. It was a bracelet made of soft rope that was looped through a small shell. You could tighten it through strings that hang on the end. I took it with me everywhere, I didn't like leaving it anywhere. It's just that the shell's starting to chip off on the ends.

I try very hard to keep my bracelet in good shape, though.

When I was completely done changing, nearly an hour later, Mackenzie nodded in approval. I still didn't want to see myself, nevertheless. I was scared to know how good I looked. Usually, I didn't like to try to look good, because I figure if a guy ever wants to date me, they would have to date _me._ Not Mackenzie-screwed-up me (Although that me was pretty.)

I shoved the _Invisible_ _Man_ back into my bag in case I would get a chance to finish it off tonight. A car honked outside of her house and that's when I realized how stupid I was being. _I really shouldn't go, I really shouldn't go, I really shouldn't go…_

But I did.

We walked downstairs and stepped into the limo after telling Mackenzie's mom that we were leaving. Of course, she complimented me. I gave my thanks although I knew that she was probably lying. I looked down at my shoes as we walked across her lawn, and in case you haven't noticed, that's my nervous habit. Looking down at my shoes. Tonight, I was looking down at some black Vans. Mackenzie tried to force me into ballet flats but of course I said no. I was trying to be hell, for her making me face it.

I slid into the car across from Cody and Mackenzie, dreading the moment that my "date" would step into the car and drool would drip from the sides of my mouth. He always looked good no matter what. _You don't like him, you don't like him…_

Cody introduced himself, of course he didn't have to though. But you know that sort of like, insecurity you get when you're meeting a new person? I didn't detect any of that in Cody's voice. It made no sense. He didn't look angry with Mackenzie at all for dragging two extra people along on their date. He looked pretty happy, sitting there in a white shirt with some kind of red design on it, a red blazer, black skinny jeans, and gray shoes.

We stopped at JZ's house, and I was almost hoping that he wouldn't walk out of that house. I was hoping he would stand me up. I was hoping he'd have the flu or something. But _no, _of course he didn't. He walked out in a black shirt, sleeveless gray vest, black jeans, and white Nikes. He didn't have to try hard to be cute.

But by the way that Cody and JZ were already glaring at each other ten minutes in to the car ride, I knew that tonight wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park.

**In case you didn't catch it right away, the shell bracelet was from Cody. :)**

**Angelagirl13: I don't think Cody did either, but Mackenzie made him. :) You really think that Mackenzie just happened to invite Dennison? No, there's a reason. Well, at least I hope there's a reason. It's really good for drama, and that's the best part to write! Thanks for reading it! :)**

**ArieGreyPurple: I'm happy that I'm a great author! Lol and I cant wait to write that story. And I already knew I was amazing, but it's great to hear it from other people. So thanks! :) And you are **_**way**_** nicer than I am.**

**Kay, review! :)**


	6. No Awkward Silences

_But by the way that Cody and JZ were already glaring at each other ten minutes in to the car ride, I knew that tonight wouldn't exactly be a walk in the park._

- 10 Minutes Earlier -

JZ put one foot into the car before sliding in to the car altogether. "Hey Shenna-shan." He said, sitting next to me putting his phone back into his pocket.

"Hey Zeejay." I said, returning the whole mess-your-name-up-on-purpose-to-annoy-you kind if of thing. He just looked down and smiled, unannoyed by the way that I messed up his name. He threw his arm around me after getting a text. It felt weird, in a really good way. It was warm with his arm around his shoulder. I was looking down at the ground though, feeling incapable to look up into his warm, green eyes.

"Hey, wanna introduce yourself?" she said. That was Mackenzie for 'Say something to him so it doesn't look like I hang out with some retards'.

"Uh, yeah." I said, praying that I didn't sound as unsure and uncomfortable as I felt. "I'm Dennison." _Although, if I had it my way, you would already know that._ I finally looked up from the red carpet of the car and into his blue eyes.

"Cody." He said, pronouncing his name like, 'Curdy'. There was a harsh silence for a couple of seconds before Mackenzie opened her big mouth again.

"I'm Mackenzie!" she said in her Barbie-est tone of words. As if acting like a total candy sugar sweet doll could get this…whatever this is, to end.

Jay was glaring at Cody. Jay was another person that I had told about my summer-long vacations with the Simpsons. Best friends since the first grade. So, naturally, I had come home devastated that summer because _he_ had broken up with me. Jay almost knows everything there is to know about me. And I didn't tell him half of it. He's just people-smart like that. "You already know me, _Liam._" He said, an enormous amount of distaste in his voice.

Mackenzie was giving him a look that could burn. "_Cody,-"_ she started.

"Is the same guy that went with you to Denni's party, right?" he finished. He was in a really bad mood with Cody for the reason that I should be mad at Cody.

I slid my phone out from my bag and sent him a text.

**To: Mr. Loser**

**Dnt be so…ugh. I shud b mad at him, not u. he dsnt evn remember me, so dnt torture him bout sumthin he dnt evn knoes existed. He had to b liam cuz hed get caught if he wasn't. he did it for me…**

I pushed it back into my bag just as his phone went off. He took his phone out of his pocket and scoffed. "Yeah, okay." He said to my phone meaning it to me. Mackenzie tilted her head in confusion. He glared at the window before saying, "My mom…she's telling me not to stay out to late. But I want to, and why shouldn't I? If I want to stay out late, she should let me, right?" Once again, it's Jay's language for, "Stop telling me not to be mad. I want to be mad, let be mad. It's only fair, right?" I thought for a second. If another girl ever did what Cody did to me to JZ, I would, in a heartbeat, rip that girl's head off her body…but, he should be the bigger person.

"Well, she's your mom..you have to listen to her. And, if she wants you to be home by curfew, you should be there because it's the right thing to do, and it would make your mom happy!" I said. That was Dennison translation for, "I'm the one who was broken up with, so you have to listen to me. And if I don't want you to be mad at him, don't be mad at him. And if you don't be ugly with him, I'll be grateful."

He gave me a sarcastic smile. "And since when did I ever listen to my mom?" I'm pretty sure you can translate that one yourself. "I'm so bad, I chew gum in class."

I laughed. "Yeah, you're just as bad as Michael Jackson was."

_"Because I'm bad, I'm bad, I'm really, really bad."_ we sang together.

"I don't even like that song," I said quietly. The silence of the car almost hurt.

Jay eventually broke the silence a minute later by talking about something completely random, out of nowhere. But I knew that move. He like me, couldn't bear awkward silences. They were just so, awkward! "So, yesterday, me and Dylan were prepping for the zombie apocalypse,," he said out of nowhere.

"Really, tell a three-year old boy about the upcoming wave of zombies that are going to kill us all," I said. Dylan was the cutest little boy on the planet. His brother was always corrupting his little innocent mind, the butt.

"You're not going to be saying that when they actually come. You'll be a zombie, and Dylan'll still be alive as a human being, uneaten."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah. And I'll be on the outside word while you live in a mental asylum," I said, smirking.

He smiled right back. "Oh, but you now you'd save me from a life in an asylum. You'd be standing outside the asylum with a picket fence telling the coordinator guy that I'm not crazy. You know you can't live without me," he said with a crooked smile on his face.

I rolled my eyes. "No, I'll be there when they let you out though." I cupped my face in both hands, putting on a scared look. "No, please don't let him out! He's crazy! He'll try to kill a neighbor after considering her a zombie!" I said, shooting him a harsh glance.

We kept arguing about whether I would save from life in a mental asylum, but I stood my ground, even though I would save him from an asylum in a second. Like, BAM. But, it wasn't like I was going to admit it. I'd rather date Cody.

Eventually, after enduring bored faces from Cody and Mackenzie who didn't understand the importance of zombie apocalypses, we arrived at the restaurant. Not too shabby, not too shabby. At all. We sat down, and I started thinking about random things, like how bright Cody's eyes were, then I thought about how pretty Harry Styles' eyes were, then how gorgeous Harry himself was.

The waiter came over. He asked what we wanted to drink, and we all replied with mixed answers. Mackenzie got a diet Coke, Jay a normal coke, Cody a Mountain Dew, and I got myself lemonade. What I always get.

It's an obsession, okay!

I was going to say something mean to Mackenzie right when Cody started to say something to me. "So, Dennison, tell me about yourself."

And I don't know what happened when he said that. I just broke.

**Don't you just love it when I cut you off! **

** sydneycrush: Thanks for that! This one's different from my other stories with the feelings and all that. It's weird, cuz this is the one I plan most for, but upload the least on, so I'm like yelling at myself, WHY ARENT YOU UPDATING? Like, today in math, I literally got in trouble for zoning out when I got an idea for my story, lol. **

** Review! :) **


	7. Surprise

_And I don't know what happened when he said that. I just broke._

"I will, in just a second." I said, getting up from my seat and retreating to the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror and tried to find the part in my hair to calm myself down. I could do this, right? It was for Mackenzie, and she was my friend, right?

I looked over my head and raked my fingers through my hair. When I found the part, I figured that it was time for me to go back out there. I looked at myself one more time. My hair looked so different curled..it was weird.

I looked at the ground as I walked out and back to the table. I scooted back in next to him and looked at Cody. "Um, I have two sisters and a brother, my favorite color's highlighter yellow, my favorite number is 1,234 and I hate Snickers." I said, saying anything random that came to mind when I thought about myself.

He smiled. "I have a sister and a brother, my favorite color's blue, my favorite number is 4, and I_ love _Snickers."

I forced a smile. "That's nice." I said.

Mackenzie took his hand in hers and they started talking about going to the mall the next day, and me and Jay had our own conversation about pet peeves. "_You_ are my biggest pet peeve," I told him, smiling.

"Aw, that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me. Don't worry, your mine too." He said. "Girls dressed like skanks comes right after you."

I laughed. "Guys that talk about spots 24/7 comes right after you."

"It's nice to know that you find me more annoying than Jake," he said.

"He doesn't talk about sports 24/7! More like, 18/7."

He laughed, and Mackenzie had to go to the bathroom, of course I didn't notice until JZ said he had to go too. I raised my eyebrow at him as he left. He hated Mackenzie, so I didn't doubt him or anything.

I looked down and put my hand behind my neck when it was Cody and I alone. It probably wasn't awkward or anything to him. But it was to me. "So," he said, breaking the silence. "Do you listen to a lot of music?"

"Yeah, who doesn't?" I said, finally looking up.

"Okay, why don't we talk about music until they come back?"

"That sounds good," I smiled.

"What's your favorite song?"

"That's hard! There's so much…um, I guess at the second it's Call Me Maybe." I lied. It was 'Got Me Good'. "Yours?"

"Actually the entire Take Care album is being played over and over again on my iPod."

"Oh my gosh, I love that album. I have it at home in my stereo." We kept talking about music for a while, just like we used to when he lived in Australia. It felt like we were together again, I felt the happiest I had been for a while. I guess it wouldn't be that bad to be with Cody again, but I'm not sure I would be able to bear it.

After a while, we noticed that Mackenzie nor JZ had come back from the bathroom. "How long have they been gone?" he asked with his accent.

I looked at my phone. "About fifteen minutes,"

I got up and went to the hallway where the bathrooms were, and I wanted to puke at what I saw. Mackenzie and Jay were making out, completely unaware of my presence. I heard someone clear their throat from behind me and looked back to see Cody standing right there.

Mackenzie's eyes shot open, and _his_ eyes slowly opened. Here I was this whole time thinking that Jay hated Mackenzie and she hated him. But here they were, all over each other. Major reality check. Mackenzie was pretending to be completely shocked by the fact that Cody and I caught them. JZ was completely nonchalant about the whole thing. I could tell by his pursed lips that he was absolutely grossed out by the fact that he had just done that.

"I thought we were together," Cody said calmly.

"We are! I just..umm," Mackenzie stammered.

"No, don't worry about explaining. We're done." He said, already retreating back to the table we were previously sitting at, not looking back at Mackenzie.

"If we were really together, I would say it's over!" I said, rolling my neck and going back too.

I sat down across from Cody. "We never ate," he said.

"Who cares? Mackenzie probably wasn't going to eat anything anyway."

"Well, are you hungry?"

"Not really, you?"

"I'm completely starved. Stay with me so I don't eat alone?" he asked.

"Sure, why not. It's not like I have anything to lose." I said.

He flagged down a waiter. "Can I get the spaghetti?" he asked. The waiter nodded, writing a quick scribble down.

The waiter turned to me. "I'll have the same," I said. He nodded and walked away.

Cody looked at me. "Really? Didn't you just say that you weren't hungry?"

"I lied." I replied, simply.

"Want to get away from me that bad?"

"No! It's not that, it's just that if you weren't hungry I didn't wan—"

"I was kidding. Calm down, it's okay. I get it." He laughed.

It was quiet for a while but it wasn't awkward. It was comfortable. I started thinking about those old times when we were little.

"_You gonna run out on a dare?" asked Cody. "If you are, then-" _

He had dared me to make a roly poly roll out of the ball, back in, and back out. It was sort of a game we played during those summers. But I was terrified of any kind of tiny, crawling creature.

"_Cody, you have to think about these things," I said. "Lemme think a minute… it's sort of like making a turtle come out…" _

"_How's that?" asked Cody who loved turtles._

"_Strike a match under him" I said._

_He said striking a match under a turtle was hateful. _

"_Ain't hateful, just persuades him it's not like you'd throw him in the fire," I growled. _

"_How do you know a match don't hurt him?" _

"_Turtles can't feel, stupid," I said._

"_Were you ever a turtle, huh?"_

"_Were you?" I retorted._

"_No, but—"_

"_Then you don't know!" I said, smiling triumphantly._

Cody interrupted my thoughts. "What are you thinking about?"

"This one time that I was with my best friend and he dared me to play with bugs," I said.

"You don't talk to him anymore?"

"He doesn't remember me," I said bitterly as the food came.

"That's unfortunate." He said, sitting a little straighter.

"Yeah," I said, raising my eyebrows reaching for one of the silverwares in the middle of the table.

**Haha, done! I like updating on this one, its just that, not only do I like to leave it off like that, I'm tired of typing. I have like, no excuse to not update because school's out, but sadly, being the overachiever I am, I signed up for like, a billion camps this summer. So I cant update as often :( I got the idea of the memory from To Kill a Mockingbird, so I don't take credit for that! That goes to Harper Lee. :)**

**sydneycrush: How could it have sucked if you couldn't stop thinking about it? It probably didn't suck that bad. **

**CodysAngel15: Thanks for reading it! Sorry it takes so long to update.**

**Review! :)**


	8. Truth

"Was that your boyfriend?" he asked, nonchalantly just spinning spaghetti around his fork.

I looked at him, while pushing a straw in to my lemonade. "Not really. I mean, I've liked him for a while, but I don't think he notices me like that. Obviously, he's got eyes for Mackenzie."

"Any guy would be lucky to have you." he said, before putting the fork in to his mouth and eating the spaghetti. "Who was your last boyfriend?"

I looked at him with one raised eyebrow. "That's a bit personal, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but we're all friends here." he perused with a small, irresistible smile.

I held in the glare that was threatening to surface, and replaced it with an almost kind smile."It was when I was twelve. He broke up with me."

An almost imperceptible flash of regret crossed his eyes that disappeared almost as soon as it came. "Sorry about that." he said, as if he was genuinely sorry about the failed relationship.

That's what set me off. The way he acted as if he didn't know who the 'he' that I kept talking about was.

I suddenly stood up from the table, slamming my chair back. "Your the 'he', Cody! I know that you know who I am!" I said as I forcefully pushed my hair behind my ear. Way menacing.

He gave me an artificial look of confusion. "Dennison, what are you talking about? I just met you!"

"No, Cody, you didn't! I _know _you still remember me. I can see it in your eyes!" I ran a hand through my hair. "If you didn't want me to bring it up, you could've just asked instead of pretending that you had no i idea who I was."

He stared at me with a fake look of shock and puzzlement. "I don't know what you're saying. I've known you for about a week. And now you're saying that we've dated? What's wrong with you? Do you live in some fantasy world?" he snapped at me.

"Yeah, I guess I do live in a fantasy world. A world where Cody Simpson is capable of facing me." I slammed back in my chair, and stormed out of the parking lot.

I was halfway through the parking lot when I felt a hand wrap around my wrist. "Sydney, wai-"

"Don't call me that!" I hissed. "I don't know you like that." I mocked. "Right? I thought you didn't know me!"

"Even if I didn't know you, I would make sure you didn't walk home."

"You're such a gentleman, Flipper." I said with a wildly fake tone of amazement.

At the name, I saw his eyes soften. Maybe, just maybe, he felt bad. Well, too late.

I took my arm out of his grip, and started to walk off.

"Syd-Dennison! Wait! Do you want the truth?"

I sighed, and turned around to look in to his sorry eyes with an angry look in mine. "No. Why don't you just lie to me, like you have to yourself for the past, what? Three years?"

"The reason that I did what I did was because-"

"Because why? Because I wasn't good enough?"

"No, the reason-"

"Oh, that's right. You didn't want to have a huge public break up in front of the world?"

"You're acting crazy. I'm trying to tell you-"

"Or was it because we were just gonna break up in a few months, and you just wanted to end it as soon as possible because-"

"Dennison! Could I talk?"

"Nobody's stopping you." I said with a glare, finally fighting back the comebacks and interrupting comments that were coming up my throat.

"I did it because I didn't want to be in-"

"A relationship with me? Well, that's okay. I'll leave now, so you don't have to break what's left of my heart again."

With tears blurring my vision, I started walking down the sidewalk.

"You made me.." He whispered under his breath, before I felt myself being thrown over his shoulder, my head hanging near his back.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

He only kept walking, ignoring me. After about ten minutes of walking, he put me back down.

I stood straight up, brushing invisible dust off my shirt. I looked around. We were at Sonic. "Why are we here?"

A waiter walked up to us. "How can I help you?"

"Well, actually, this boy kidnap-"

Cody held my hand which shocked me so much that I shut my mouth.

"I'll get a Mountain Dew with just a bit of vanilla, and she'll have a lemon berry slush."

The waiter looked at me for a second, and I responded with a nod and a polite smile, letting him know that I was just (sort of) joking about what I said earlier. Then he walked off with the notepad.

"Why are we here?" I asked once the waiter was long gone.

"I didn't get to finish eating." he said, taking his hand from mine. "Or talking."

I almost missed the warmth of his hand in mine. Almost. "I probably won't let you finish."

"Sydney-"

"Don't call me that!" I interrupted. "You don't have the right to call me that anymore!" I repeated.

"I gave you that nickname." he smiled. "I'll always be able to call you that."

"Well, with the way that you've 'forgotten me', 'always' won't be that long for you."

He sighed. "I never forgot you, okay? I just didn't want to talk to you."

"Thanks, Cody. It's nice to know that I'll always have you for a friend." I said, sarcastically.

"That's not what I meant. I had a very good reason to end it."

"Yeah? What is it." I said with a slight neck roll.

He looked away before looking back at me. "It's because you wanted to be a writer."

"Oh, so, because I want to be a writer and make a name for myself," I paused. "You just decide to break up with me."

"No, it's not like that." He contradicted. "I knew that if one day, _when _you got published that the fact you dated me would hold you back. That you would be stuck in my shadow with no way out. You wouldn't be Dennison Macias, the author. You would be Dennison Macias, Cody Simpson's girlfriend." He said, pausing at the end. "I didn't want that for you."

**He finally told her what was on his mind! FINALLY! I thought that it would take at least three more chapters to get to the part of the story. But I did! He kept calling her Sydney..only I know why! But I'll think I'll put it in the next chapter. :)**

**If I get two reviews, I'll do Cody's point of view in the next chapter! (And it'll be posted before August 27th!)**

**sydneycrush: When I went to your profile, I didn't see it! It probably just needed some tweaks, and it would have been just fine, and now that you're more of an experienced writer, revising and editing it shouldn't be that hard anymore. And I know what you mean about the first story almost always being the suckish , I remember writing a Justin Bieber fanfiction for my first. I went back to it the other day, and gagged at it. I don't really like writing for school, because it feels awkward to let them read it. But you should totally repost it!**

**ILOVEALLSTORIES: First of all, I love your username! It's very direct. :D Don't die yet! There's so many more chapters to come! (Btw, am still killing you? Hope not. xD) Sorry it took so long to post! Thanks for reviewing! :) **


	9. Turn Around

**Hey, just a warning. This chapter's gonna be changing point of view's a few times.**

-Cody-

When she looked at me, her big, brown eyes were so cold and calculating. She made it seem like she was judging every move that I made, watching for a falter, or a stutter that told her I was lying.

Sorry, sweetie. Not going to happen. That wasn't a lie.

"Okay, and you couldn't tell me this because?" She asked with a scowl. "It would've saved me two or three years of wondering what I did wrong, or if you were into someone else, or if it was because it was of the way I looked."

"Den-"

"And then, out of all people, you go out with Mackenzie." She added. "One of my closest friends since fourth grade."

"I didn't even know that she knew you until your party."

"Oh yeah. Even there, you refused to acknowledge my existence. I kept on trying to get your freaking attention, and you just acted like I was just some random girl. Making myself look like an idiot, and you did nothing."

"Syd-"

"For the billionth time, don't call me that! I will _never _go by Sydney ever again. I don't like it anymore." she hissed.

I can't pretend like that didn't send a pang through my heart. I can't pretend like I felt my fingertips go numb where they were tapping on my leg. I can't honestly say that what she said didn't hurt me.

"Sydney's back in Australia. I'm _here._"

"She-"

"Nope. Look, I'm just going to go home, and we can act like this never happened, you can keep pretending you have no idea who I am, and I'll keep acting like it doesn't break my heart. It took me to have a slight mental breakdown for you to realize that I needed you to notice me. I needed you, Cody! I freaking _needed_ you! I needed you when my mom cheated on my dad last year! I needed you when they divorced last year! I needed you during the huge custody battle they had over me and Alyssa. I needed you when my world was crumbling down! But where were you? You were enjoying your life, not bothering to say one word to me."

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. There wasn't anything I could say to counter that.

"You didn't know that, did you? I'm probably being pathetic. I should've been able to move on when we were over. But I wasn't. Wanna know why? I thought I was in love with you. I tried moving on, but when I would, I would go to Walmart, and just see a picture of you on the cover of a magazine, and then I would be back at square one. Didn't you move on? What was her name? Kylie something."

I just sat there, listening, waiting for the end of her rant.

"How old was I when I met you? Five. I think I was five. So it's ten years, ten freaking years that I've known you, and you had never given me any reason not to trust you. You always had me feeling so safe and secure whenever you were around. Before we dated, everything was just fine. And then we tried it, and it turned out to be a major trainwreck. Now, I can't even buy an orange soda without seeing your face."

She pushed her long, brown hair behind her ear and stood up. "Bye, Cody. Have a nice life wi-"

She never got to finish her sentence, with my lips on top of hers.

She wasn't kissing back, but still, I held her there, my arms around her waist. It's not like she was trying to run away, because she wasn't. She was just standing there.

"Um, here's your food?"

-Dennison-

At the sound of the waiter's voice, I ripped myself from Cody's arms and turned to look at the Sonic worker. Automatically, a polite smile lit up my face. "Uh, yeah, I'll take that." I said unsurely while I took the tray from him and placed it on the table while Cody paid for the drinks. "Thanks!" I called as the waiter slowly walked away, back towards the kitchen.

As soon as the waiter was out of view, I let the fake smile slide off my face before taking the slush. I didn't feel as hostile, or as defensive as before, I just felt, for lack of a better word, numb. I hadn't been expecting that.

This entire time he's been here, I've been trying to see if he would tell me the actual reason he left me. This entire time, I'd been hoping that he would do something like that. But now that he has, it doesn't feel the same way it did in Australia. It just felt, normal.

"I have to go." I lied, as my phone rang out a Coldplay song. "My mom wanted me home by nine, and it's already nine-thirty."

"I could walk with-"

"No, I can manage."

With that, I began my walk home, feeling the cold wind bite at my face. I couldn't believe this cr-stuff. I knew he was lying..he had to be lying. If he really "cared" so much, why didn't he just tell me that? Instead, he made up some stupid story.

_"I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing, Roman Calvary choirs are singing, be my mirror, my sword and shield, my missionaries in a foreign field, for some reason I can't explain, once you go there was never, never an honest word but that was when I ruled the world."_

Once again, I reached into my bag, and ignored his call. He totally ditched me for Mackenzie, and now he wants to talk to me? No sir. I stuffed my phone back into my bag. That was the seventh time JZ's called me since I saw him. I was just about to turn off my phone.

Okay, now it's time to panic. Immediately, I broke in to a run. I ran through the tall grass, avoiding pieces of broken beer bottles. Okay, a nail just stuck through my foot. Not good. If I live, I gotta tell Jay's dad to clean out this alley. Since when did this alley get so long? Oh..I'm running the wrong way, aren't I?

Today is just not my day, is it?

I reached a fork in the alley. Both went to streets that I didn't know. Oh well. When in doubt, pinky out. Pinky's pointing left.

Panting, I ran that way. If I could find my way to the beach, I could just hideout at a shack. I took my phone out with shaky hands, and pulled up my GPS. I was on Wrenflora. A mile from my house, two miles from the beach.

Then a gunshot rang out through the air, and I briefly saw the bullet casing clink with a bounce or two at my feet. At a reflex, adrenaline kicked in, and I was running even faster than before. Faster than I've ever been before. I quickly looked back to see the black gun pointed in my direction.

What did I ever do to them?

"Hey, gunmen guys!" I yelled while running. "Can you wait to shoot me until Wednesday? I've got a Human Geo Final!"

They responded with a shot.

"Okay, I guess not!"

My shoe fell off my foot as I ran. It was the good foot, so I didn't think much of it until I stepped on pieces of broken glass. "And there goes my other foot." I growled at myself. "Great! Now, how am I supposed to get from Geometry to Journalism?" I screamed at them. "Some schools don't have elevators, you know?"

Rolling my eyes, I kept sprinting and ignoring their death threats. I thought they were threats until I felt a bullet graze my shoulder. I mumbled some cuss words under my breath. "That doesn't feel very nice. Are y'all tryin' to kill me?"

"That's the idea, sweetheart!" A man slurred. It was obvious to me that they were drunk out of their mind. Hey, drunks. There's a thing called a legal alcohol blood level. I think you passed it.

Normally, I would reply to that by saying, "Please kill me now," but in my current situation, I don't think that would help my case. Because they actually would.

2,692 feet from my destination. That's how far I was from the beach when I got shot in my back. I turned around to face them, but I couldn't. I had already hit the ground. Feeling my blood flow out of my back as the world went dark.

Cody-  
Walking into the hotel, I lied on the couch, pulling the maroon blanket over my body. It's pretty cold out there tonight.

"Cody Robert Simpson. Where have you been? Its already going to be ten."

"Relax, Mom. I was just out, letting Dennison yell at me."

"Cody!" She yelled at me. She pulled out a chair from the table and gave me a serious look. "That little girl has enough to deal with. She doesn't need you making her life any harder."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, sitting up, but still keeping the blanket around me.

"Hun, do you want to know the real reason we came here?" She sighed. "Her mom needed help. Dennison's grandmother paid for her party, so Serena needed help paying the rent. They're staying in a one bedroom apartment, Cody. When Serena's working, Dennison's at home, taking care of her siblings, (I)and(I) keeping up her 'A' average. She really doesn't need you to top it all off."

-NO POV-

Josiah had been walking around, like he normally did at night. His dad would be at a bar, getting drunk, and his mom was always never to be found at night, always leaving him and Dylan with the neighbors.

He kept replaying the conversation with Mackenzie over and over in his head, kept trying again and again to call Dennison, make sure she was alright. She wouldn't answer his calls, causing him to worry about her.

Something about walking alone at night calmed his mind. The way that the wind hit his face, or the crunch of the sand that would be blown from the beach less than a mile away. He fell in love with the silence.

Finally walking back to his neighbor's house, he heard a boom.

It popped in to his head that that was the reason that Dennison hadn't been answering his calls. He started running in the direction of the sound, ignoring the burning in his legs.

Small towns aren't the best places to walk alone in.

Following the sound of drunken laughter, he kept on. Even if it had nothing to do with anyone he knew, he could at least try to help, because that's the kind of person he was. He wanted to be that kind of person.

Finally within earshot, he heard what the people were saying.

"Little girl shouldn't have been running.."

"Let's go get another case..."

"Back wound..no chance.."

Then he looked down, and saw Dennison. Lying on the red concrete, eyes closed, unconscious.

**Oh..wow...I got bored at my Gramma's house, okay? I had way too much time on my hands while I was over there, so I started typing in the Colornote app on my phone, and out came this chapter. I'm actually proud of myself. I've never written anything like that. So, what do you guys think? I didn't know this chapter would end up this long...**

**Oh! And, I have a question for you guys...yesterday I got a PM (from a person whose already deleted their account -_-) saying that I used the same personality for Dennison that I did Mikayla (from another story). I was just like, I thought Dennison was way more mature..but I guess not. What do you guys think? Be honest..**

**Oh, and did you like this chapter?**

******ILOVEALLSTORIES: You're welcome! :) That's good, if you were, you wouldn't have been able to read this chapter! THANK YOU! For that idea, I mean. Like when I was writing this chapter, I wrote everything in bullet points, and the original plan evolved in to this little ditty. (Haha, that's a funny word.. xD)**

******sydneycrush: I'm sorry about that..:( You should drown the pain in a Taylor Swift song..or a tub of ice cream (lolol jk)...or Cody Simpson! He'll tell you not to cry your heart out. HAHAHA! Gosh, I crack myself up. Sorry if that joke was corny..I couldn't help it. :) But really, I'm sorry. That sucks. :(**

******Emma: Thanks:) And I did!**

******Review! :)**


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